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Fortnite for Android might be exclusive to the Galaxy Note 9 at launch

Fortnite for Android might be exclusive to the Galaxy Note 9 at launch

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Photo by James Bareham / The Verge

Samsung might be taking its marketing of the Galaxy Note 9 in a different direction than previous Notes: the company is said to be planning a huge, exclusive Fortnite push through a partnership with Epic Games. Both 9to5Google and XDA Developers are reporting that Fortnite’s Android port will launch alongside the Note 9 — perhaps even as a pre-bundled application. Samsung might have a 30-day exclusive on the hugely popular battle royale game, according to 9to5Google.

Epic Games did not respond to a request for comment.

Both sites say that Note 9 buyers will be rewarded with some Fortnite bonus freebies in exchange for preordering the phone, including complimentary V-Bucks, player skins, and more. And yes, apparently somehow Samsung has found a way to add S Pen functionality to the game. (The new S Pen is expected to include Bluetooth and should offer more advanced software features on the Note it’s paired to.)

XDA Developers claims that Fortnite will play a key role in Samsung’s marketing of the Galaxy Note 9, which will be touted for its gaming prowess thanks to the Snapdragon 845 inside and a “vapor chamber heat pipe” that’s designed to cool the device during extended gameplay sessions. Samsung began teasing the Note 9 today with advertisements promising long battery life, fast performance, and generous storage. But highlighting games would be new territory for the Note, which has traditionally been marketed as the best smartphone around for productivity.

Launching Fortnite exclusively on Samsung’s newest smartphone will certainly limit Epic’s revenue on the platform — even if only for a month. The game is printing money for the publisher on every platform where it can be found and is expected to rake in over $2 billion of in-game purchases this year. But Samsung’s marketing dollars can only help the game in the long run, and you can bet fans with Android phones will be trying to sideload it as soon as it’s available on the Note 9. If the timed exclusive window is accurate, everyone else on Android can expect to play Fortnite sometime in September.